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Sony Inks Production Deal With Sharp, Looks Toward Samsung

Wed Aug 05, 2009 at 09:00 AM ET
Tags: Sony, Sharp, Samsung (all tags)

Announced earlier this week in Japanese business paper Nikkei, Sony and Sharp have finally put long anticipated joint venture plans into place.

This is a multibillion dollar deal that sets Sony up to have access to TVs made in Sharp’s Sakai plant. Sharp also plans to sell off additional stakes in the plant to companies such as Toshiba.

Not satisfied with just that, Sony may continue their expansion by enlisting Samsung to produce panels later this year. Reported in Korean newspaper Hankooki, Samsung is in talks to supply Sony with 40, 46 and 55 backlit LCD displays.

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Sony Slashing Prices On TVs, PS3 Says Samsung

Fri Jul 31, 2009 at 01:00 PM ET
Tags: Samsung, Sony, High-Def Retailing (all tags)

Samsung remains confident of success this holiday season due in part to expected moves by industry giant Sony.

In a conversation with Australian lifestyle and technology site Smarthouse, Samsung’s Mark Leathan confirmed that Sony is planning massive price cuts this holiday season.

“We are aware that Sony is looking to slash prices as we talk to the same retailers,q however we are not worried as we intend to launch extensive marketing activities going into the peak Christmas/New Year period.” Said Leathan, marketing manager of Samsung’s consumer electronics division, “We also have several new products coming that will excite the market”

While price cuts are certainly intended to spur sales, the bigger goal is to get more Sony products into more houses, meaning more future sales. Stores looking at margin and profit, not just price, are less than enthusiastic. Harvey Norman is a large home theater chain based out of Australia. According to one franchisee, the price cut may backfire a bit “There is very little margin in TV's and the last thing we need is less margin.”

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Samsung’s High End Blu-ray Home Theater in a Box

Thu Jul 23, 2009 at 02:00 PM ET
Tags: Samsung, Home Theater In A Box, Industry Trends (all tags)

Coming in at just under $800 this August!

Samsung announced on Tuesday that this August will see the release of their HT-BD3252, a higher end home theater solution with some great features. With 1000 watts of power pumping through a pretty sizable pair of front speakers, an expanded center and a pair of wireless back speakers all using Samsung’s bio kelp speaker cones, the audio coming out of this system will be more than enough for most consumers.

The Blu-ray player integrated into the system is BD Live compatible, and while it does have an Ethernet adapter, a usb dongle is required for wireless connectivity. Customers will have access to Netflix, Pandora, and starting this fall, Blockbuster OnDemand.

Most HD audio formats will be supported, according to Samsung, including Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, and with the Auto Sound Calibration (ASC) Feature, speakers will be adjusted to their optimum output at the touch of a button.

The HT-BD3252 comes stock with a decent range of inputs, including a pair of HDMI ins, an optical port, composite connections, and even an iPhone/iPod cradle with an on screen display for easier browsing.

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Samsung’s High End Blu-ray Home Theater in a Box

Thu Jul 23, 2009 at 02:00 PM ET
Tags: Samsung, Home Theater In A Box, Industry Trends (all tags)

Coming in at just under $800 this August!

Samsung announced on Tuesday that this August will see the release of their HT-BD3252, a higher end home theater solution with some great features. With 1000 watts of power pumping through a pretty sizable pair of front speakers, an expanded center and a pair of wireless back speakers all using Samsung’s bio kelp speaker cones, the audio coming out of this system will be more than enough for most consumers.

The Blu-ray player integrated into the system is BD Live compatible, and while it does have an Ethernet adapter, a usb dongle is required for wireless connectivity. Customers will have access to Netflix, Pandora, and starting this fall, Blockbuster OnDemand.

Most HD audio formats will be supported, according to Samsung, including Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, and with the Auto Sound Calibration (ASC) Feature, speakers will be adjusted to their optimum output at the touch of a button.

The HT-BD3252 comes stock with a decent range of inputs, including a pair of HDMI ins, an optical port, composite connections, and even an iPhone/iPod cradle with an on screen display for easier browsing.

See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.


Samsung Announces Three Blu-ray Home Theater In A Box Systems

Thu Apr 02, 2009 at 03:10 PM ET
Tags: Samsung, Home Theater Gear (all tags)

Samsung has announced three new home theaters in a box (HTiB) equipped with Blu-Ray, and has lowered the price from their previous models to start at $549.

The HT-BD1250 is the entry-level, $549 HTiB. It features a 5.1 channel system, and has begun shipping this month.

The HT-BD8100 retails at $799, and is the first sound bar device in the industry to embed a Blu-Ray player. It offers virtual surround sound and the ability to mount into a wall, and will ship in July.

The third system is the HT-BD7200, retailing at $799. It features virtual surround sound and 2.1 speakers, and will ship in June.

These three HTiBs are all capable of decoding Blu-Ray surround sound, displaying BD-Live content, and can access services like NetFlix and Pandora. They can also access content from a synced PC, such as music and video streaming, and two of them (the HT-BD1250 and HT-BD7200) are designated as “Works with iPhone”.

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News From CES 2009: Samsung thinks "skinny."

Thu Jan 08, 2009 at 02:45 PM ET
Tags: Samsung, Industry Trends, CES 2009 (all tags)

Just like Oprah, Samsung has one goal in mind for 2009, to slim down with some low profile HDTV and Blu-ray player offerings.

First up among its CES 2009 unveilings is the Samsung Series 8 Plasma HDTV, which the company says is the world’s slimmest 1080p resolution plasma set to feature a built-in ATSC tuner. At just over one inch in depth, the TV features a luxurious design, with a chrome like translucent surface, high dynamic contrast ratio, and Ultra FilterBright technology to minimize glare and maximize contrast. The sets are also equipped with the Internet@TV – Content Service platform to bring web content to the television using the Yahoo! Widget Engine. Users can use this feature to browse videos, share photos, and interact with their friends and family members. The displays are also wireless DLNA-compliant.

Samsung is taking bold steps forward with its 2009 plasma line-up,” said Steve Panosian, director of Visual Display Marketing at Samsung. “By combining superior picture quality, energy efficiency and networking options with the latest audio-visual technologies, the Series 8 and 6 plasmas are sure to become the model of excellence in plasma HDTVs.”

Just as exciting is the HT-BD8200 Blu-ray Home Theater Sound Bar, which Samsung calls the first of its kind to incorporate Blu-ray technology. The self-contained, wall-mountable unit is only 2.6 inches deep, features a fully integrated Blu-ray player with Full HD 1080p playback, virtual 5.1-channel surround sound, a wireless subwoofer, Samsung's "Smart Volume" technology, and is capable of seamless playback of video, photos, and music from, mobile phones, and digital cameras, using the built-in USB port or Bluetooth. The player is also capable of wireless networking, BD-Live, Netflix streaming, and Pandora music playback.

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Related links:
SAMSUNG Launches High Performance Plasma HDTVs At CES 2009 [samsung.com]
SAMSUNG Delivers World's First Blu-ray Home Theater Sound Bar [samsung.com]

Special Delivery - Netflix Update Arrives for Samsung Blu-ray Players

Fri Dec 05, 2008 at 09:00 AM ET
Tags: Samsung, Netflix, Video Streaming (all tags)

Samsung has released a firmware update that will allow Netflix customers to stream movies through their Blu-ray players.

As previously reported, Samsung and Netflix settled on an arrangement similar to that announced by LG Electronics which will allow owners to take advantage of Netflix's "Watch Instantly" service at no additional cost.

After installing the update to their Samsung BD-P2550 and BD-P2500 players, Netflix account holders can visit the website to add standard definition movies and TV episodes to their instant queues. Those selections will then be available for viewing on their TVs via their Samsung players.

For more information on Netflix streaming, visit the company website!

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Samsung Announces Free Player Update For Netflix Streaming

Thu Oct 23, 2008 at 03:00 PM ET
Tags: Samsung, Netflix, Video Streaming (all tags)

Owners of the Samsung BD-P2550 and BD-P2500 Blu-ray players awoke this morning to some happy news. With a simple update, their players can now stream Netflix movies at no extra charge!

As announced by Reuters, the two companies have settled on an arrangement similar to that announced last month by LG Electronics which will allow owners to take advantage of Netflix's "Watch Instantly" service.

Netflix account holders can visit the website to add standard definition movies and TV episodes to their instant queues. Those selections will then be available for viewing on their TVs via their Samsung players.

For more information on Netflix streaming, visit the company website!

See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.

Related links:
Netflix, Samsung in streaming partnership [Reuters.com]

Samsung Sued Over "Defective" Blu-ray Players

Mon Feb 11, 2008 at 09:00 AM ET
Tags: Samsung, Technical Glitches (all tags)

An early adopter is taking on Samsung, filing a class action lawsuit against the electronics manufacturer over compatibility issues with its BDP-1200 and certain Blu-ray discs.

According to court papers filed late last week, Connecticut resident Bob McGovern is suing Samsung on behalf of "thousands, and perhaps tens of thousands" of consumers who purchased Samsung's 1200 Blu-ray player, only to later find the player incompatible with "numerous Blu-ray disc titles."

The suit goes on to say that although Samsung was "fully aware" of the incompatibilty issues at the time of the manufacture and sale of the player, it has not updated or repaired the player. Court papers do not list the affected titles by name, nor do they describe the source of the alleged incompatibility, stating only that the player suffers from "defective design and/or manufacturing."

As we've previously reported, the highly anticipated Blu-ray release of 'Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer' and 'Day After Tomorrow' this past October were greeted with playback problems on several players, including Samsung's BDP-1200. Although Samsung later issued a firmware upgrade which was said to correct the problem, some early adopters have reported continued incompatibility issues with these and several other Blu-ray discs and the BDP-1200.

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Related links:
McGovern vs Samsung Electronics (PDF) [Courthouse News Service]
Discs mentioned in this article: (Click for specs and reviews)
Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer (Blu-ray)
The Day After Tomorrow (Blu-ray)
Earlier on High-Def Digest:
Playback Problems Reported on 'Silver Surfer,' 'Day After Tomorrow' Blu-ray Discs (Oct 04, 2007)
Samsung Firmware Update Corrects Playback Issues on New Fox Titles (Oct 10, 2007)

CES: Samsung Bows New Dual-Format Blu-ray/HD DVD Player

Sun Jan 06, 2008 at 06:24 PM ET
Tags: CES 2008, Samsung, Dual-Format Players (all tags)

Updating its recently-released BD-UP5000, Samsung says it will introduce the new BD-UP5500 Duo HD player in the second half of 2008.

Like its predecessor, the BD-UP5500 will support both Blu-ray and HD DVD discs, as well as the latest BD-Java and HDi interactivity available (including full support of Blu-ray Profile 1.1).

Samsung says the BD-UP5500 will also feature 7.1 PCM, DTS-HD High Resolution and Master audio, plus Dolby TrueHD Bistream output via HDMI 1.3.

The deck's ethernet connection will enable firmware upgrades and web-enabled features with compatible HD DVD discs. (Company reps tell us the deck will not be BD-Live compliant, meaning it will not support web-enabled features on certain Blu-ray discs.)

The BD-UP5500 is expected to retail for $599, making it the lowest-priced dual format player announced yet. (The BD-UP5000 is currently retailing at $799.)

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Related links:
Samsung Invites Newcomers into the World of HD Home Entertainment with New Duo HD Player [Press Release]


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